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Kathy Ivens, political activist and author

Kathy Lass Ivens, 70, of Mt. Airy, a political activist and author, died of pancreatic cancer Jan. 16 at Keystone Hospice in Wyndmoor.

Over the years, Ms. Ivens was involved in many progressive causes that included fair housing and education reform.

In 1978 she was chair of the Charter Defense Committee that effectively blocked then-Mayor Frank Rizzo’s attempt to run for a third term, even though the Philadelphia City Charter limited the Mayor’s tenure to two terms. The committee was instrumental in placing the Mayor’s proposal on the ballot, and voters rejected it by a 2-1 margin.

In 1973 she served as advertising and publicity director for the successful campaign of Lisa Richette to win election to the Common Pleas Court. She also worked on Richette’s unsuccessful Democratic Primary campaign for election to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

She had been a computer consultant since 1984 and was a prolific author of computer books, writing or editing more than 50 volumes on software use. She was a senior contributing editor for Windows IT Pro Magazine.

Earlier she was involved in the production of news, sports and entertainment programs for local television stations.

Raised in the Juniata Park section of Philadelphia, she was a graduate of Northeast High School.

Ms. Ivens is survived by daughters Deborah Lewites, of Berkeley, Calif., and Beverly Ivens, of New York; a sister, Deborah Stead, of New York; a brother, Fred Lass, of Oakland, Calif., and three granddaughters. A daughter, Judith Bernardi, died in 2008.